


When I Thought it Was the End

by musicofthespheres



Category: Pacific Rim (2013), Star Trek
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, Jaeger Pilots, Kaiju, jaeger - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-02
Updated: 2014-04-02
Packaged: 2018-01-17 18:24:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1397962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musicofthespheres/pseuds/musicofthespheres
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James T. Kirk remembers reading about the great Kaiju War in history class. He never thought that the kaiju would return, or that he would suffer personal loss because of them. Instead of following family tradition and enlisting with Starfleet, he signs up for the newly recommissioned Jaeger Academy to become a pilot. There, he meets Leonard McCoy, a doctor just out of medical school. It turns out that they're Drift Compatible.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

James Kirk had read about the great Kaiju War in school. It was a chapter in the history books, now - along with the development of warp technology and non-hostile extraterrestrial contact with Vulcan. What he never thought was that the kaiju would return. After all, hadn’t Mako Mori and Raleigh Becket destroyed the Precursors? 

Some of them must have survived. Nobody was quite sure how they rebuilt so quickly. After all, by one scientist’s experience in Drifting with a kaiju brain, it was discovered that it was in the time of the dinosaurs that came the first attempt at global colonization. That worked out to millions of years of waiting for conditions to be just right. The Kaiju War was over in 2025, and when a kaiju attacked the coast of Canada in 2246, only 221 years had passed. Raleigh Becket and Mako Mori both died in World War III in their respective lines of duty. A plaque commemorating their service to the people of the world was placed outside of San Francisco - where the first ever kaiju attack occurred. They were not even 55 when they died. 

It was almost as if the Precursors had anticipated the advancements that would take place in human civilization. Accelerated by warp capability, myriads of technological innovations had taken place. In fact, it was this advancement that might have been humanity’s downfall. Only obsolete weaponry was effective in destroying the kaiju; the precursors anticipated the improvements in technology and took care to make sure that it would be useless. Somebody proposed to reinstate Pons drifting technology, and the world leapt on the idea of resurrecting an antiquated scheme that had proved to be their means of salvation in a long-dead and over-romanticized era. Resources were increasingly cheaper now with intergalactic trade in the picture. The Jaeger Program 2.0 was born. Starfleet Academy may have taken people to the stars, but the Jaeger Academy took them to the fight. 

Kirk’s father encouraged him to follow family tradition and join Starfleet. And Kirk had planned to until a kaiju attacked Auckland, New Zealand and killed his mother in 2249. He was only 16 at the time.


	2. Enlistment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Simulators are rough.

At 21 years of age on his birthday, James Tiberius Kirk enlisted in the new Jaeger Program. The Pan-Pacific Defense Corps had only been reinstated two years prior. With Starfleet funding, the PPDC had been able to build - and improve on - seven jaegers based on old designs. The jaeger that had ended the first Kaiju War, Gipsy Danger, had become an iconic symbol of freedom and hope. Three of the seven mechas emulated at least some elements of her design. One even had the same nose art on her head. 

 

That first wave of jaegers - technically mark VI - would to go the graduating class of 2255. Three gruelling years on Alaskan shores: that’s all it would take. Pairs that enlisted together were on the shortlist for their own jaeger, but lone wolves like Kirk had the opportunity to find a Drift partner. After six months of preliminary tactical and physical training courses, Kirk seized that opportunity. That’s when he met Leonard McCoy. 

 

The man was a bit grouchy at first. He was 27 and fresh out of medical school. They met during a conference - attendance was mandatory, otherwise Kirk would have skipped it. 

“ D _ octor _ Leonard McCoy,” he introduced himself. He sounded pretentious and superior to Kirk until it was revealed that he was newly graduated. The guy was excited about the fancy new title, that was all.

“Jim Kirk,” came the response. They became friends immediately.

 

\---

 

Simulations began solo. Your co-pilot’s capabilities were programmed into the machine and you got used to using your brain to drive an immense machine. Dual simulations began when you and the AI of your co-pilot completed the program all the way to the final kaiju, a Category V named Kobayashi. 

When Kirk finally reached that stage, he was apprehensive. He had heard of no student yet who had succeeded in bringing the kaiju down. “I don’t know how I’ll handle it if you die,” Kirk teased McCoy. “Even if it’s just artificial you.” 

“Just fine, I imagine. Don’t forget that I have the test tomorrow and will have to go through the same thing, kid.” 

Kirk beamed at the doctor. “I will be sure to bring some tissues and ice cream to your quarters,” he said. 

 

The test was a massive failure. A travesty. Kirk refused to leave his quarters until it was time for McCoy’s go at it. All the while his co-pilot-to-be was doing the simulation, Kirk couldn’t help but remember how suddenly empty his mind felt without another presence. Drifting with AIs never caused a Drift hangover the way Drifting with a human did, but the abruptness with which he had been left alone in searing darkness and the loudness of his own mind shocked his system. Raleigh Becket wrote an autobiography before he died. After WWIII, the manuscript was discovered and posthumously published. It was still a staple in high schools across the world, having been translated into dozens of languages. He had written about his brother’s death and what it had done to him. Kirk had never given it much thought until he contemplated the same fate befalling McCoy. He sadly watched his own previous horror reflected on McCoy’s face as Kobayashi tore the conn pod to pieces - and subsequently, the artificially intelligent version of Kirk himself. It was a rough week, after that.

 

After a two-day respite, Kirk arrived bright and early to the sim lab to find his co-pilot already there. They shared a look that confirmed that they felt the same: they would  never let that fate befall either of them in real life. Determination beset their features. The fear of failure would be the first enemy to be crushed by the strength of their partnership. 

 

\---

The presence of a real human mind - as opposed to an AI - is much more powerful. Kirk and McCoy could not have fully realized this; no amount of training would be able to prepare them for the sheer neural force of Drifting with a human partner. The emotional aspect, for one, is so real that Kirk now wonders how he could have thought that Drifting with AI McCoy was even a semblance of reality. With their first neural handshake steady and holding, however, he knows beyond a doubt that he prefers the real McCoy. 

“Weird being in your head,” McCoy says out loud. They’re not used to reading each other’s thoughts yet, and it’ll be quite some time before they’re capable of sifting through everything in their minds to communicate clearly. 

They go through a series of tests first, as all new Drift partners do. These mostly consist of coordinating movements and ensuring that they’re able to keep it together. Both of them ignore the underlying fear of being torn away from each other mid-Drift. Kirk knows that every pilot must feel the same after their first time with Kobayashi, but nobody ever talks about it. 

 

When he wakes up screaming for the third time in the week after that first neural handshake, Kirk’s roommate demands that he visit the academy’s resident psychologist. 

 

“I was wondering when I would see you,” the psychologist, a pretty redhead, greets him. Kirk is taken aback. “What do you mean? My yearly eval isn’t for another two months,” he says, clearly confused. 

She holds up an exam schedule. “They always visit me after Kobayashi,” she says, pointing to the date of Kirk’s exam. “And if pilots don’t see me voluntarily within a month after, a mandatory appointment is scheduled.” 

“Oh,” Kirk says, understanding better now why nobody talks about it. “Well. I’m here.” 

The psychologist, Dr. Warren, determines Kirk’s reason for meeting with her. He explains his dreams in detail, admits that it was his roommate that prompted him here in the first place, and talks about how, even in the Drift, the subject of co-pilot death is taboo. 

“Why do you think that is?” Dr. Warren asks. Kirk stays silent for a long time. “Maybe it’s-” he says quietly when he finally speaks. “Maybe it’s because then we don’t have to consider the harsh reality. If we don’t talk or think about it, then it stays under the surface. Where it belongs.”

  
After their third session, Dr. Warren suggests that Kirk and McCoy have a dual session. Kirk knows that McCoy is against going solo, but nearly a month has passed and he still hasn’t gone in. If they went together, then McCoy would haven’t to worry about going alone for a mandatory appointment. A lot of cajoling and a little puppy-dog face pleading later, McCoy agrees grumpily. They’ve just killed their fourth kaiju on the sim and their first category III when they visit Dr. Warren together. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are going to be a few grammatical tense shifts in this story. I assure you that it is done (probably) entirely on purpose to get the right feel.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a weird conglomeration of a crossover and an alternate universe. It's a crossover in that the events of the Pacific Rim movie occurred in the history of the world of this fic, and an alternate universe for obvious reasons. I've done a lot of research, but in case any of my Star Trek universe facts aren't correct where they ought to be, please let me know. I've taken a little bit of liberty in changing a few details in order to fit the Kaiju War into the history of Star Trek. If you have any questions or anything, please don't hesitate to leave a comment and ask!


End file.
